The Wasp — 1896 — page 475: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon from *The Wasp* (a San Francisco satirical magazine) comments on California's criminal justice system, specifically regarding the Dunham case. The allegorical image shows Lady Justice appealing to the "even-handed goddess" for intervention, holding a sign noting the county jail is "too small to hold all the murderers in it." The accompanying notices reference Dunham being "reprieved for a month," "no trace of Blantner," and Dunham "still at large"—suggesting a dangerous murderer has escaped or evaded justice. The cartoon criticizes California's apparently inadequate or ineffective justice system, arguing that dangerous criminals remain unpunished while the state's infrastructure cannot contain them.